Remembrance of a Hero
by Kots
Summary: Sequel to Sacrifice. Done by request. It's been three months since the events of Sacrifice, and Impmon has been holding all his emotions inside. Will he go nuts, or finally find release? Find out by R&R.


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Knight of the Staff: Greetings puny mortals! It is I, the Knight of the Staff, here to bring you another fic.

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Pinmon: Who was your muse for this one?

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Knight of the Staff: Well due to popular request, I decided to do this fic from Impmons' point of view. So, I thought it only fair if I used him as my muse as well.

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Pinmon: I was only asking because the closet door was knocked off, and I wondered if you had chosen an evil digimon for your muse.

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Knight of the Staff: No, not yet anyways.

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Pinmon: Then what knocked it off its hinges?

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Knight of the Staff: Behemoth

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Pinmon: Who?

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Knight of the Staff: Impmons' motorcycle, it came through the closet at top speed, looking for Impmon. It also hit me in the process.

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Pinmon: Oh, that explains it.

Knight of the Staff: What?

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Pinmon: Why there's an imprint of you in the wall.

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Knight of the Staff: Pfffftttt!It didn't hurt. Anyways, on with the fic.

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Pinmon: This author does not own digimon, now R&R, and Boo Ha Ha!

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Knight of the Staff: Hey! That's my catch phrase!

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The rain fell.

It fell from the heavens in torrents. 

Lightning split the night sky, causing it to thunder in pain.

Pain......, pain was a word that he understood all to well. He stood in the rain, not caring if he was cold and wet. He was hungry as well, but ignored his growling stomach. The storm had caused parts of the city to lose power, so the lights in the park were dead.

Lightning flashed, illuminating Impmon and his surroundings. He stood in Shinjuku Park, in front of the stone building that Guilmon had once used.

Impmon hung his head in sorrow, _"Guilmon...., Takato...., why?"_

The D-Reaper had killed them. It had crucified Gallantmon, and Impmon hadn't been able to do anything to stop it.

That had been three months ago though. Most of the city was still under repair, but things were going along smoothly. The people of Shinjuku had called Beelzemon and the Tamers heroes. No matter how much they all denied it, the citizens wouldn't stop calling them that. They had wanted to make a monument in honor of them all. Rika and Henry had gotten them to change their plans though. So the outcome was a dedication to those who truly deserved it.

Impmon lifted his tear-stained face to look at what he had visited every night since it had been erected.

It was onyx, which would have been almost impossible to see at night, except for the lightning continually flashing across the sky.

It was a life size carving of Gallantmon. He stood upon Grani, holding his lance and shield, as if prepared to do battle. On either side of Gallantmon, also carved atop Grani, were two smaller forms. Takato and Guilmon leaned against each other beneath Gallantmon as if sleeping. From some strangers' point of view it appeared that Gallantmon was protecting those two, but Impmon knew better. He knew what it really showed. It showed what could be done through the power of belief and dreams, what could be done through the power of friendship.

Takato and Guilmon had been the only ones who had ever tried to be his friends. They had never made fun of him, in fact, they had tried to get him to join in their fun. 

Impmon lifted his face to the raging heavens, _"Why!?!" _he screamed, _"It's not right! It shouldn't have happened! Takato! Guilmon! Come back!" _He sank to his knees and pounded the ground in anger. Over and over he struck the earth with his gloved fists, releasing all the pent up rage, sorrow, and frustration that he had not known how to deal with. 

His hands were severely bruised and bleeding, but he didn't care. He looked up again, just in time to see the lightning streak across the sky. Several times it flashed in succession, briefly turning night into day. 

Impmon wiped his eyes on the back of his glove, then with a snarl of anger, he jumped up on the statue so he was standing on Granis' head.

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"Why did you try to be my friends!?! Why did you...did you die!?! Answer me dammit! Why did you two want to be close to me!?! Do you see what your friendship has caused!?! Nothing but pain! I had enough pain in my life, and you two caused me to hurt even more!" Impmon screamed at the carved forms of Gallantmon, Takato, and Guilmon. _"You could have called for help, you could have yelled out that you were in trouble! I would have come to help. I would have kept you from getting killed!"_

Impmon fell to his knees once more, his anger gone. All he was feeling now was sorrow, and an emptiness that he knew could never be filled. He curled up in a fetal position, and closed his eyes. He laid there in the heavy, cold rain, not caring. He was tired, tired of everything. He just wanted to go to sleep, and never wake up again.

O

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"Impmon...."

"Impmon, wake up...."

"Go away, leave me alone."

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"Impmon, you need to wake up now, please!"

"Hmmmmm.....?" Impmon opened an eye to see who was bothering him. It was still night, and still raining heavily. He was soaking wet, and his bandanna and gloves were soggy. He pushed himself into a sitting position, and looked around. Lightning flashed once more, but Impmon couldn't see anyone around.

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"Huh, I musta been dreamin it."

"Impmon...."

Impmon froze at the voice, for now that he was awake, he could clearly hear it. It was so familiar to him, yet it couldn't be. Impmon turned back so he was looking at the statue. _"G....Gallantmon?"_

Lightning flashed once more, showing the carving in full detail. This time though, Impmon could clearly see two golden eyes within Gallantmons' helm. Impmon stood up, his knees shaking. _"Takato....?, P...Pineapple head?" _

The statue of Gallantmon nodded, _"Yes Impmon, it's us."_

Impmon stared in shock, his jaw hanging open. He took a step forward, only to slip on the wet stone and fall off. The next thing he knew was that he was about a foot above the ground. Something had grabbed him and kept him from getting hurt. He was lifted into the air, and set back upon the stone Grani. Impmon looked up to see that the stone Gallantmon had moved, and positioned itself over him as a kind of shelter from the storm.

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"But...but...but you're dead!" was all Impmon could get out, after he got over the shock of seeing a statue come to life.

Gallantmon hung his stone head, _"Yes, it's true," _he said in a hushed voice, _"I....We did die."_

Impmon pinched himself to see if he was dreaming, "Ow!" Nope, it wasn't a dream.

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"Why....?, How....?" Impmon was full of questions, but just couldn't seem to form them into words.

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"Why are we here?"

Impmon nodded, and stared, still not sure what was happening.

"We're here because of you, Impmon."

"M...me?"

"Yes, you. You are becoming as you once were Impmon, uncaring and lonely. We can't let that happen Impmon, you're our friend."

Impmon became angry, _"_Friend? _Friend!?! Being your friend has caused me nothing but pain! What kind of friendship is that!?! Why should you care what happens to me!?! You went and got yourselves killed! You left me and the others alone! What right did you have to do that!?! What right!?!"_ Impmon screamed at Gallantmon, his fists clenched at his sides.

Gallantmon stared at Impmon before answering in a sad voice. _"We never meant to hurt you Impmon, that was the last thing we wanted to do. But....we had no choice in the matter. If we hadn't fought the D-Reaper alone, then it would have attacked you from behind while you were going to protect the others. If you, Rika, and Henry hadn't left, then my family and theirs would have been killed."_

Impmon closed his eyes, forcing the tears to stay in. _"You....you could have called out. You could have yelled for help. I would have come back. I could have kept you from dieing." _Impmon said, this time in a much quieter tone.

Gallantmon shook his head. _"Is this the reason? You blame yourself for our death? Impmon, we chose to give our lives to protect you and the others. You were needed elsewhere. Do not blame yourself Impmon, for it was our choice and not yours. If you continue to blame yourself for our death, then you'll be harming us and yourself. You'll harm yourself by becoming as you used to be. And when you blame yourself, you take away the fact that we gave our lives for you, please don't take that away Impmon, or our deaths will have no meaning."_

Impmon couldn't hold it back any longer, he started to cry uncontrollably. _"But...but it hurts so much. This feeling of emptiness, it's like I have a hole in my heart. I...I miss you two so much, you were my only friends, the only ones I could ever truly consider my friends."_

Gallantmon reached down and lifted Impmon into his arms. He sheltered Impmon from the rain, and held him close. Impmon was surprised to find that Gallantmon wasn't cold stone, but warm and breathing. _"We know it hurts Impmon, but it'll get better."_

Impmon rubbed his eyes, which were now red from crying. _"How?, how will it get better? How can it?"_

Gallantmon moved a finger toward Impmons face, and gently wiped away a tear that Impmon had missed. _"The pain will fade Impmon. It just takes time for such hurts to heal. That is the only cure, and even then it is not complete. But, we promise that the pain will be less, and one day it will be gone. Because, on that day we'll be together again, and we promise that we won't leave you."_

Impmon yawned, he was exhausted, and getting sleepier by the second. _"You won't?" _

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"Nope, in fact, we're with you all the time whether you know it or not. As long as you remember us, we're always by your side giving you the strength to carry on." Gallantmon reached inside one of his gauntlets and pulled out something that sparkled. _ "Here Impmon, we want you to have this."_

Impmon reached out and accepted Gallantmons gift. It was a silver necklace, and on it was a symbol. _"What...what does it mean?" _

Gallantmon chuckled, _"It's the symbol of friendship Impmon. It's to remind you that we will always be your friends."_

Impmon smiled, and yawned again, before slipping the necklace on under his bandanna. _"Thank you, I think I need to sleep now. Good night Takato and Guilmon, it was good to see you again." _Impmon then closed his eyes and fell into a peaceful sleep.

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The chirping of birds caused Impmon to awaken. He immediately stood up and looked around, he was on the statue between the forms of Takato and Guilmon, which had provided a type of shelter from the storm. 

Impmon moved out onto Granis head and looked up at Gallantmon. The statue didn't seem to have moved an inch, it still stood in its protective pose. Shield raised high, and lance held out. _"Gallantmon?" _

There was no response.

Impmon shook his head, _"Of course, it was only a dream after all." _He rubbed his neck, and then felt something scratching at his neck.

He felt his bandanna to find that if felt kind of lumpy. He reached under it, and gasped. Slowly he lifted the silver necklace that Gallantmon had given him. The symbol of friendship glistened brightly in the morning sun. Impmon smirked and looked back up at the statue. _"Or maybe it wasn't." _He then jumped off the statue and started home, sure that his tamers had been worried about him. 

He looked back once more and smiled, _"Thank you Gallantmon." _As he turned and continued down the path, he heard a voice as light as the wind whisper in his ear, _"You're welcome Impmon." _Impmon smiled and ran all the way home.

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Knight of the Staff: Well, what'd you think? Loved it? Hated it? Want it to be sent into the darkest pits of hell? Just R&R, I want to hear your comments.

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Impmon: Hey! You made me cry! I don't cry!

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Pinmon: Sure you do.

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Impmon: Name one time you ever saw me cry.

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Pinmon: Um....how 'bout after after the horse deva beat you?

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Impmon: Hey! That doesn't count! Now you've gone and done it! Behemoth! Run him over!

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Pinmon: What!?! Nooooooooooo!!! (runs away with demon bike chasing him)

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Knight of the Staff: I suppose I'll have to help him, but for now I'll let Behemoth chase him for a while. I mean he did take pictures of me in the wall, and mail them to everyone I know. 

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Impmon: Yeah, that sure was funny! Hahahahahaha!

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Knight of the Staff: Yeah......hilarious. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the fic, and as always Boo ha ha! 


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